"Sanctuary, I want you to not let anyone enter our Sanctuary Shelter, unless it's me. The time frame is for now until I tell you otherwise."
[Understood, Your Majesty.]
~Tiiing~
[A new Temporary Law has been enforced in Sanctuary Shelter.]
[Rule 1: No one is to enter Sanctuary Shelter. Excluding the King.]
[Time frame: Effective immediately until the King says otherwise.]
He nodded in satisfaction.
First hard lesson he learned from the previous zone was that not everyone could be trusted. There are those he can trust, but he can't risk just anyone to enter here. If he wanted to build a safe place for humanity, then, he needed this place. If other people got this place, who knows what would happen?
Also, his enemies are not just greedy humans.
There were also those other Natives who he didn't even have a clue about. And from Alpha's information, Dragon Riders are aware of Super Phenomena. There is a high chance they already found most of the Shelter. And if the Dragon Riders have many shelters, then it would be a real loss to humans, especially if no one was able to obtain any shelter.
If this place is the only one that has a human king, then wouldn't their race perish if left alone?
That's why he didn't want to carelessly let anyone in.
It might sound cruel.
To be honest, he still wanted to save as much as he could.
But naivety aside, he knew he needed to be stronger if he really wanted to save anyone.
Righteousness in a chaotic world? Saving everyone without minding the consequence? A pure hero that would save without asking for anything?
He didn't want to be like that. It would be irresponsible to do kindness and expect everyone to be kind as well. Only when he was strong would people listen to him.
Because he admits it, he is weak. He could not protect Sanctuary Shelter alone. For now, he could only gather those he knows and borrow their power.
"Asahi, Miya, Gouki and Hikari. Those four, I know they are kind-hearted. I can trust them. Hmm… the priority of looking would be Asahi. He's the one I can trust the most. He's Sho's best friend. With Sho's memory, he's a great spokesperson. He's very good with words and a social butterfly. He would surely be able to enforce law and calm people.
"Next would be Gouki. He's a lawyer. And we need a law inside this. I need to discuss with him things about law that would suit this place. Also to avoid as many loopholes as possible. Although he seems cranky, he still is strong and can lead people. People naturally want to follow him because he's strong. He also has his own charm. He's cool too…
"Next would be either Miya or Hikari. I want to find Miya to make sure she's safe. She would also be a very useful help here. There's also no doubt in her character. She's trustworthy. She's also a genius and her mind works wonders.
"About Hikari, she has very good positive vibes. With her gentleness, people would also 'purify' from evil thoughts… She's like a heroine. She would shine more with people around her."
Analyzing them, Caelus couldn't help but chuckle. He didn't know he had a strong impression of those he met in this world as soon as he took over Sho's body. Well, maybe, it was precisely because of that. Although, Sho had met a lot of people, he only trusts Asahi.
That's also one of the reasons he trusts Asahi. For the other three, he had been with them in a life and death situation. He felt that it was enough to know what their true colors are.
Caelus let out a sigh. For the first time since his arrival, he could freely think without care for any danger.
Before, when he first got Sho's memory, he knew a lot of things instantly. But because of an overload of information, he couldn't arrange them easily. Thus, he wanted to meet Asahi as his starting point. And knowing Asahi being knowledgeable, it seems possible to gain new knowledge.
But every plan he has got wrecked when the Super Phenomena happened. It had been just less than a month since that happened, but everything he knew about the world thanks to Sho's knowledge didn't seem applicable at all now that the merging happened.
But still, trying to recall everything, he felt amazed and scared for humanity. Amazed because he, Miya and Duke were able to survive the Zones easily. Their only setback was meeting the Savior Gang. If the Savior Gang didn't raid them, then there would be far more survivors he knows. They also would not be separated.
*There's also the first batch that got out of the Hidden Zone… *
Knowing that there are a lot of people that managed to survive in the zone, he was amazed at humanity's adaptability. Maybe, the games created by them were the best boost they could ever get.
But even knowing that many would survive the Zones, he was still scared for those who escaped the Zone.
Dragon Riders.
He asked Sanctuary if she knew anything about the other Natives. And wallah, she actually came up with an answer.
From what she had described earlier, he came to the conclusion that they were ready to conquer the merging world. And they were extremely cruel. They killed anyone they saw. They massacred without hesitation. They can control Dragons freely, and are great warriors themselves.
He didn't know if anyone could even contest a Dragon Rider at all.
Although Sanctuary tried her best to describe them, she would need more Mana to be more concrete and concise.
However, with the information she gave, it was enough for him to be prepared.
What his concern was about humans. Any advantage they had with familiarity with their own terrain was erased. Any trace of the previous Earth wasn't there anymore. The countries? They were remodeled as soon as the merging started.
It was simply because the world was merging. Two different worlds… of course there would be a lot of changes. And they didn't have their technology to use. Even if they wanted to rebuild them, they would still need to research how the new technology won't stop working in the untable world.
Contrary to them, the Dragon Riders could just fly around with their Dragons and familiarize themselves with everything.
Humanity doesn't even have any weapons now. No guns, lasers or machines. They all got destroyed from the Super Phenomena.
He knew, if they were given time, humanity would rise again.
But that's precisely the reason the Dragon Riders were decisive on killing humanity. They would rather eliminate any possible threat than be backstabbed.
In a sense, he could understand the race.
However, even if he could understand them, it doesn't mean he would do the same.
Although after what he had experienced, he was more cautious, he still wanted to save as many as possible. And knowing that the other side could be intelligent beings, maybe… just maybe, they could come up with a diplomatic solution. All they had is to recollect themselves.
[Your Majesty, on my estimate, it would take one to four weeks before I find the four people you are looking for. For faster scanning, you can give me some of your Mana.]
Caelus blushed at Sanctuary. At first, he really didn't absorb how Sanctuary called him "Your Majesty". Maybe it was because Sho would have loved to be called like that. Only now, he felt embarrassed. "Can you not call me 'Your Majesty'? How about calling me… Sho?"
He wanted to tell Sanctuary his real name. Yet, he knew it would be unwise when he would bring people inside. Although he trusted them, he didn't know how they would react once they knew he took over Sho's body and that he was from another world. Especially Asahi.
[If Your Majesty insists…]
Caelus heaved a sigh of relief. However, he was not even done releasing his sigh when Sanctuary said something.
[... I'm sorry, Your Majesty, the command has been denied. It seems I can only call you as follows: Your Majesty, Master, Venerable, Divine One…]
Sanctuary said a lot of choices but Caelus felt dizzy.
What the heck is this Zone? Why does it feel like a Zone for chuuni syndrome?! The choices given became more absurd the more he listened.
"... s-stop. Just call me 'Master'... a-at least, I can just think of you as my disciple…"
He felt a cringe while also thinking how he was different from Sho. Blushing a bit, he cleared his throat and brought back the previous topic.
"How do I transfer Mana to you?" He didn't know it was possible to do that at all.